2010... Memoirs...

La la la la la... :)
The year 2010 is quickly coming to an end. I have to admit, this year has truly "flown by". ;) My biggest achievement this year was settling down, getting married to a man I love and loves me back, truly. Hehehe...

My life revolves a lot around my work, even after becoming a wife. So, when I think back of the things I've gone through in 2010, a lot of it involves my work (projects, issues, etc, etc, etc), including my overseas trip to India and Singapore. ;)

A short look back through the months (important note: work, work, work in all of 'em. Hehehe)...

January
Beginning of the year. Work, work, work
February
Love blossomed between my husband and I (we finally admitted each others feelings...hehehe)
March
He met my family. :)
He proposed before I went to India. :)
Began my work trip in India
April
End of my work trip in India
My dad's 62nd birthday! (missed it as I was India, but we celebrated after I returned the week after).
My 27th birthday!
May
Met with his family. Dup dap dup dap! Hehehe
Met with his friends. :)
My niece, Hanisah's birthday!
His sister met with my parents, to "officiate" his intent to marry me
June
My mama's 58th birthday!
I got engaged! :)
July
Wedding preparations
My sis-in-law's birthday!
August
My sis' birthday!
Fasting month, Ramadhan 1431H
September
Eidul Fitri, Syawal 1431H
Wedding dress fitting... :D
My triplet nephews', bro-in-law, and my bro's birthdays! Whoa... 5 family birthdays in a month. ;)
October
I got married! Yay! Hahahaha...
November
My best friend's wedding! :)
Very short time-out with my husband to Tree Top Walk, Sedim, Kedah. :) (Will find time to blog about that soon, after my mini honeymoon story completes...hehehe)
My husband's 28th birthday! Love u so much, Abg... Mmmmmuuuah! :D
December
Short business trip + mini honeymoon to Singapore. (part 2 of Mini Honeymoon story is currently work in progress...haha!).
My niece, Sakinah's 4th birthday!
Weddings!!! Hehehe... Quite a few weddings during the school holidays. :D

Along the way, I've gone through a multitude of emotions, the good, the bad, the ugly, the beauty, as well as the many ups and downs in life. Whatever they were, the most important, I felt love and loved in return. Syukur alhamdulillah and praise to the Almighty for everything. :)

For the soon approaching year 2011, I pray for health, happiness, prosperity and strength for all. Also, I pray for a child of my own (or can we have twins, Abg? Hehehe). :)

An advance Happy New Year 2011, everyone! :D

The Tourist

(poster from Google)

A good watch. :)

I enjoyed the movie... just came back from the midnite show. Hehehehe... Off to bed...the last day of 2010 (it's 31st Dec. already!). ;)

Mini-honeymoon... Day2 (part of it...hehe)

As I was on business trip, we didn't actually get to do much or go around as much as we wanted on Friday. After breakfast, I left for work and came back around 2pm to the hotel, where my husband waited patiently for me (and partially planned on our destinations during the short trip). Hehehe...

Just to note: My husband and I were too absorbed with going here & there together, that we didn't really take as many photos as one would on a holiday / honeymoon. Also, very, very few photos of the two of us together. :p Readers be informed, ya! Hehehe...

Since we weren't sure what to have for lunch and not wanting to have fast food, we had our lunch at Ayam Penyet Ria restaurant in Lucky Plaza, a few minutes walk away from the hotel.

Our scrumptious lunch for the day... Ayam penyet set for my husband, cumi-cumi penyet (baby squid) set for me (photo not available), pempek palembang (fish cakes), keropok udang & emping (prawn crackers), es kacang & es cendol. Yum! Yum! :D
*All photos taken from Ayam Penyet Ria's official website :D

After filling our tummies to the brim (haha!), my husband & I strolled along Orchard Road. The time was already 4pm, so we just walked and walked along the road. We passed by numerous shopping malls - Wisma Atria, Ngee Ann City, Paragon, The Heeren, etc. All were cheerfully decorated with the coming Christmas celebrations. :)

Mini-honeymoon story...

My so-called mini honeymoon was really, a mini honeymoon (9th to 11th December 2010).

Hehehe… I was actually in Singapore on a business trip. There was a testing activity by our vendor that needed a company rep’s verification i.e. me, as the test engineer. ;) Initially, it was supposed to be three people from my company (the part designer, myself as the test engineer, and my technician). However, only my name got through with the management and my colleagues were slashed from going. Huhuhu… So, this is where my husband gets into the picture. Hehehe…

To save what little budget we had (ehem…hehe), we decided to go to and fro Singapore via express bus (plus the fact that I just didn't feel like getting on a flight on my own just to go to Singapore: ~1 hr taxi ride to KLIA + 2 hrs waiting for flight + ~1 hr flight + ~30 - 45mins taxi ride to hotel...& I can't really just sleep whilst waiting alone, to avoid accidentally missing the flight...hahaha!).

As I only got confirmation about the trip on Wednesday afternoon, that night itself, my husband and I went to Bukit Jalil bus station to purchase tickets. We initially tried to purchase online tickets (Aeroline, Transtar, Firscoach, etc), but either the timing was not right or tickets were already sold out. Huhu… So, off we went to Bukit Jalil to purchase tickets over the counter. Round and round we went at the station, over various counters, but in the end, we chose Plusliner / Transnasional. Many tickets were already sold out, so we just took whatever we got. The bus was scheduled to depart from Bukit Jalil at 5.30pm and arrive at Lavender Street, Singapore at 11.30pm on Thursday, 9th December 2010. As we didn’t want to take a chance on not getting a return ticket in Singapore (due to the many “sold-out” status…huhu), we bought return tickets as well (10.00pm on Saturday, 11th December 2010)...

Skipping out on other minor details (hehehe), we arrived safely in Singapore at 11.15pm on 9th Dec. 2010. From Lavender Street, we took a taxi to our hotel, Meritus Mandarin Orchard Road.

The hotel, Meritus Mandarin a.k.a. Mandarin Orchard

(Erm, I managed to get a room at the hotel, since many other hotels (including my company's panel hotel - Holiday Inn Park View) were fully booked and this hotel offered a good price, despite it's 1st class category...hehehe)

Entry to the room (on the right is the wardrobe)

The extremely comfy bed (King size!)

View of the entryway...

The wardrobe, equipped with a safe, iron & ironing board, room slippers & robes for two. :)

The shower. :)

The tub (I love it! Hehehe)

View from the room. As it was after 12am, night lights were not as bright... ;)

So, end of Day 1 of mini-honeymoon... :)

Singapore 2010...

... my so-called mini honeymoon with hubby. Yay! :)

More weddings! :D

It's the school holidays season and weddings are definitely in the air. Hehehe... My cousin, Abg. Muhsin's wedding reception was held on 28th Nov. 2010, while hubby's aunt, MakCik Dalin (Dalina), tied the knot last Saturday, 4th Dec. 2010. Lovely! :)

Abg. Muhsin & his beautiful bride, Bazilah

Family photo: Kak Muna (groom's eldest sis) standing beside the groom, MakTeh Zawariah sitting in front of the groom, Abg. Mursyid (groom's older bro) with his daughter Alisha & wife, Fara, and the groom's mother, my aunt MakLang Zaleha. :)

- Wedding reception at Abg. Muhsin's family home in Kuala Kangsar (I totally love the silver theme, which I totally matched with my engagement dress...hehehe... too bad I forgot to take a photo of myself throughout the reception. Hehe!)

The bride waiting for her groom... :D

The gorgeous MakCik Dalin & Pakcik Azlan (with Makcik Dalin's sons, Qairan & Qaif)

- Wedding reception was held at Jeram, Kuala Selangor. Pakcik Azlan's reception will be on this Saturday (11th Dec. 2010 in Merbok, Kedah)

Oh, hubby & I went to Abg. Muhsin's reception with my sister's family i.e. with the triplets. Haha! We (the 7 of us) managed to fit in rather comfortably in my hubby's Grand Livina. :) Here's a couple of pics of my sis' family seated in the 2nd and 3rd row seats...

Erm... I couldn't manage to take better pics, since I just turned myself around in the car to snap the pics. Hehe... Oh! Below's one of my fave pics from Abg. Muhsin's reception... My nieces, Hanisah, Alisha (Abg. Mursyid's baby gal), and Sakinah. Pretty, cheerful lil' gals! :D

There's like at least another 2 weddings by the end of the year, that I'd love to attend. My officemates, Zuhdi (who's also my uni. junior) & Azlin's reception on 25th Dec. 2010 (Alor Setar, Kedah) and Md. Noor & Anis on 26th Dec. 2010 (in Gemencheh, Negeri Sembilan). Hmm...the two venues are pretty much in opposite directions from one another. Let's hope I'll manage to attend both, since both of them made way to attend my wedding reception in Kedah. :)

1 Muharram 1432 Hijrah

Alhamdulillah, praise to the Almighty. Another year has passed and I am still alive.

Alhamdulillah. A new year, a new leaf in my book of life. :)

Mama Kembar 3 Buat Giveaway, Yay!

Yup! My sis is having a giveaway... & the prizes are fabolous - heavenly sweet scented Victoria's Secret products and cute & convenient Travel Telekung! Click on the pic below for more info. :)

I'm tagging the lovely LadyNaza, the cheerful aNgAh_aLiFaH, & new friend Sha. :)

Too bad I can't join...since itsybitsysecrets is "co-owned" by me... :p Hehehehe... Hmm, will think of something to giveaway as well, after this giveaway is closed (& depending on the response this time)... ;)

Good luck, peeps! :D

December

The year seems to pass too quickly. I can hardly believe it that it's already December 2010! Yikes! Where has all the time gone? Hahaha... Well, this year has been exceptionally full for me, with the biggest event being my wedding. Hehehe... :)
There's so much I want to blog about, but all needs good timing. Will definitely post more sometime soon.

*I'm actually feeling a little under at the moment... Runny nose + ache in my head + my faithful monthly cramps. :p Huhuhu...

Hubby's birthday!

Nov. 23rd, 2010... Happy 28th birthday, my love~ ;)

Love

Us... :D

My best friend's wedding

Although a little overdue, but here's a photo taken from my best friend's wedding, dated November 6th 2010.

My lovely friend, Afifah & her hubby, Suhaili

We (hubby & I, plus my parents...hehe) got to the mosque just in time to witness their solemnization. Fuh! Haha! :) I wish her & her hubby all the happiness & blessings. May their marriage always be blessed. Love u, Ifah! :D

ps: I simply heart her flower bouquet of fresh roses. Beautiful! :D

Hari Raya Qurban 1431H

It's a festive day today for Muslims around the world. Alhamdulillah, I am able to still be here today, and with my loved one. It's our first raya together. Hehehe... Getting ready to go over to my brother's house. :D

Syukur alhamdulillah

Praise to the Almighty, I am now a wife to the man I love dearly. :) My solemnization & wedding reception took place last Sunday, October 24th 2010. Overall, the event went smoothly, alhamdulillah. Below are some of the unofficial photos, taken by one of my hubby's best friends (official photos from professional photographer will be shared another time...hehehe)...

My family members at my solemnization, with the triplets being as "quiet" as they can. Hehehe... ;)

Part of hubby's family members. Even his aged grandma came, which made me really happy. :)

The two of us, officially husband & wife... :)

These photos were taken after my solemnization. Wedding reception photos? Another entry, ya. ;)

Tomorrow's the day!

It's Saturday morning...just over 24hrs more till my solemnization! ;)

Dub dab dub dab

This time next week, I'll be at the mosque, waiting to be married, waiting for my fiance to say the right words to make us husband & wife. Yikes! Hehehe...

Am I prepared to be a married woman?? I don't really cook well, do housekeeping that well...well, not yet. Hehehe... Erm, not too sure about being fully prepared for it, but I'm definitely gonna give it my best. Hehehe...

I've been living on my own for so long, being single all this time. To share my life with someone (package includes families & friends too! Haha!) is indeed a huge step in life, right? Well, I'm willing to give it a go, and so is he. I'm sure it won't always be sugary sweet, the eternal sunshine with happy smiles all the time, but well, that's part of marriage. :)

The Wedding Invitation Card...

The black-&-white artwork... :)

Too bad the beautiful olive-green with silver scribbles can

10 more days...

...till I'm no longer a single woman... ;)

Pretty pic

It's just too pretty. A swan at Serpentine Lake, London (pic courtesy of my lovely colleague, Zanita, who went to the UK with her son a couple of months ago).

Psst: Notice the shape made by the swan?? A heart! (Suddenly reminded of that song, which goes "Love is in the air... Everywhere I look around..." Haha! Well, love is definitely in my air!) Hehehe...

October

...already??? This is my wedding month... Yikes! :p Hehehe...

I've still to hand-out / distribute (post) my wedding invitation cards. Need to post to my FB as well, since I'm running out of cards (erm, over-distributed at my workplace...haha!). Although I know most of my colleagues or work acquantaintences will not be able to attend my wedding (a bit far from here...my hometown is 4hrs drive away), I just felt it better to hand them my cards, to still invite them as we've worked together for some time now. Same goes to a number of my friends. :)

My theme... off-white & green... Not exactly like in the pic, but just wanted to put it up. Hehe... ;)

Oh, the card... ;)
The envelope is white, with olive green lettering and design. While, the card itself is olive green in color with silver lettering and design (embossed). It's actually quite glossy, but not well captured in the pic. Simple, but still nice, right? :) (Do excuse the bad photography, ya...)

Erm...just realized the post office's closed today, as it's the 1st Saturday of the month. Huhu... So, guess I'll have to wait till Monday to post the cards (since I haven't got the stamps yet. :p)

Raya! Raya! Raya! Part 2...

In the midst of preparation, as food just arrived... Yum! Yum! Looking at the pic, just realized that the 3 of us (myself, Kak Liza, Razman) at the table were in shades of pink! Hehehe...

Some of the menu for the event. :) Mouth-watering watermelon, delicious festive cookies (traditional & modern ones), lemang, roti jala... Yum, yum, yum! :D

Preparation got done earlier than expected (by 3.30pm. The event was scheduled to start at 4pm, when everyone available that day, is available. Hehe). So, everyone back to their own work first, before the event officially begins... Well, work still needs to get done, right? ;)

Arrival of the engineers, led by our Manager, En. Rahim (smartly dressed in full Baju Melayu attire)... Hehehe... We didn't actually plan our arrival from the upstairs office to be in a flock, like this... It just happened that we were all at the office and En. Rahim led us all to the lab downstairs. Haha!

In the previous post, pic of the ladies were posted. Now, here's a pic of the men of System Testing. :) Almost all of them were there, minus a few. :)

Oh, we also mass-celebrated (is that the correct expression?? Hehe) August and September's birthdays that day. Aren't the cupcakes just lovely? (after tasting, also yummy!) Oh, simply chose the "football field" theme as only the "boys" celebrated their birthdays within those two months. Hehehe...

Well, the event was a success, in my honest opinion. Everything went on nicely. Slight hiccups here and there, but nothing significant. :)

Selamat Hari Raya, everyone! :D

Raya! Raya! Raya!

My office held a special raya celebration on last Friday... In a nutshell, it was fabulous! Hehehe... The event was practically simple, but the people made it so much fun. :)


Isn't the cake just lovely? Oh, System Testing is the name of my section...a part of PROTON's Testing Department. :)

The ladies (minus 1, who was at a meeting at that time)...

L to R: Juliana, Mimi, Laila, Me, Samihah, Liza, Alia, Mas, Nuruz (missing is Zanita)

More to come in the next entry. :D

Midnight...

No, it's not midnight yet at the moment... far from it, actually. Hehehe...

What I'm referring to is that I am in love with Victoria's Secret's Limited Edition Midnight Garden Collection (scents)! The tagline (I assume), "Magic in the shadows. Mystery in the moonlight" definitely caught my eyes. :) There are 3 midnight accentuated scents - Love Spell, Amber Passion, and Pure Seduction.

Love Spell - A lavishly lush blend of cherry blossom, muguet, red apple and Georgia peach, with hints of tamarind and blondewood.
Love Spell Midnight - Dark. Mesmerizing. a rich, velvety twist on the luminous blossoms of Love Spell, warmed by a soft embrace of vanilla.

Amber Passion - A warm, alluring blend of black cherry, créme anglaise and sandalwood.
Amber Passion Midnight - Enchanting. Mysterious. A sweet, succulent twist on the creamy richness of Amber Romance, heated by the sensuality of musk.

Pure Seduction - An enticing blend of casaba melon, plum and freesia.
Pure Seduction Midnight - Sensual. Captivating. A deep, sultry twist on the luscious fruits of Pure Seduction, enveloped by the provocative warmth of woods.

The packaging itself looks yummy enough to me. Sleek, elegant, provocative, sultry. ;)

My sister is taking pre-orders for the collection (body mist & body lotion), which she'll soon update the details on our blogshop (itsybitsysecrets.blogspot.com). I definitely want a set for myself, at least! Hehehe... ;)

* All descriptions taken from Victoria's Secret's website.

Chubby!

Well, both of us look chubby in the pic... me and my then-6-mths-old niece, Hanisah. Hehehe... Erm, but I'm still chubby now too... haha! :p Hanisah was born on May 5th, 2005 (05.05.05). The pic was taken sometime in Nov. 2005, I think. (I've just taken off my permanent braces at that time...)...

* Erm, I'm rather in the mood to post entries to my blog this morning, aren't I?? Hehehe...

Green!

Just a random photo snapped from my car a few months back, on a road somewhere in Selangor. Love the feeling of calmness it exudes (to me, anyways...hehehe). :)